The long-running Queensland health dispute looks close to being over, with all unions bar the building trades group suspending industrial action and agreeing to put a draft EA struck with the health department to a ballot.
While the MTFU is claiming ongoing success in getting companies to commit to the Campaign 2000 break-out group agreement, the metal industry unions are also signing off on deals that deliver less than the 15% pay rise they want, and, at the same time, some employers are reporting success striking agreements directly with employees.
The MD of the Australian arm of a multinational company has won an order stopping his employer from shifting assets offshore to avoid paying his claim for $14m in damages for an unfair contract.
The Federal Court yesterday finished hearing evidence in the crucial BHP individual contracts trial, with parties now preparing their written submissions.
The ALP has passed its IR policy platform at its national conference in Hobart, after referring the contentious employee entitlements issue to its national executive to avoid a split.
The appointment of the first woman member of the South Australian IRC has been overshadowed by criticism from employers and unions over the Government's flouting of convention in making two other appointments.
The South Australian Supreme Court has ruled an employee was entitled after leaving her employer to retain confidential client information she had written into her address book and diary and to then use that information to approach clients.
While the union movement's targeting of call centres has received a lot of attention, the counterpart to its activist agenda is that employers in the growth industry have also been looking for collective representation, and the AiG has stepped up to the role.
